Form arrangement for casting transverse connecting members in a concrete girder ceiling



F. GREBNER April 20, 1965 FORM ARRANGEMENT FOR CASTING TRANSVERSECONNECTING MEMBERS IN A CONCRETE GIRDER CEILING 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledAug. 29, 1961 //v VEN TOR F071 Guilt-BN5?- April 0, 1965 F. GREBNER FORMARRANGEMENT FOR CASTING TRANSVERSE CONNECTING MEMBERS IN A CONCRETEGIRDER CEILING 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 29, 1961 Fig.6.

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FORM ARRANGEMENT FOR CASTING TRANSVERSE CONNECTING MEMBERS IN A CONCRETEGIRDER CEILING Filed Aug. 29, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig.9.

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United States Patent 3,178,856 FORM ARRANGEMENT FOR CASTING TRANS- VERSECONNECTING MEMBERS IN A CON- CRETE GIRDER CEILING Fritz Grebner, 7t}Annabergstrasse, Mainz, Germany Filed Aug. 29, 1961, Ser. No. 134,779

Claims priority, application Germany, Sept. 5, 1969,

1 Claim. (Cl. 50293) This invention relates to a form arrangement forcasting transverse connecting members in a concrete girder ceiling, andmore particularly to such an arrangement for ceilings in which theconcrete girders are at least partly pre-formed.

It is known to assemble ceiling girders at least partly preformed ofreinforced concrete in spaced horizontal juxtaposed parallelrelationship to form the load hearing elements of a floor or ceiling. Itis usually necessary to connect the several girders by transversestiffening and reinforcing members.

The present invention aims at providing an arrangement by means of whichtransverse connecting members may be conveniently formed.

Another object is the provision of form elements for I casting suchtransverse connecting members.

An additional object is to provide form elements which prior to useoccupy but a minimum of space, and can be transported to a building sitein stacks and similar space saving arrangements.

A further object is the provision of such form elements which may betransformed from their space saving inoperative condition to anoperative condition without the use of tools, and with a minimum ofeffort.

Yet another object is the provision of form elements for transverseconnecting members of the type described which are inexpensive anddisposable.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this inventionwill be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood byreference to the following detailed description when considered inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which like referencenumerals designate like parts throughout the figures thereof, andwherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a form arrangement of theinvention, partly in section;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a form element of the invention in theinoperative condition;

FIG. 3 shows a modified form element of the invention in the inoperativecondition in a View corresponding to that of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional elevational view of the form ele ment of FIG. 3 inthe operative condition;

FIG. 5 illustrates the cooperation of the form element of FIGS. 3 and 4with other members of a casting arrangement, the view corresponding tothat of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 shows a modification of the arrangement of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a detail of the arrangement of FIG. 6 in plan view;

FIG. 8 illustrates another modification of the device of FIG. 5 in anelevational sectional detail view;

FIG. 9 shows a form member of the invention for easting a terminaltransverse connecting member, in a plan view of the inoperativecondition;

FIG. 10 is a sectional elevational view of the form member of FIG. 9 inthe operative condition; and

FIG. 11 shows the form member of FIG. 10 in association with otherelements of a casting arrangement in a view corresponding to that ofFIG. 5.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, and initially to FIG. 1, thereis seen a portion of a ceiling in the proc- "ice ess of beingconstructed. The ceiling is to be carried by a plurality of spacedlyjuxtaposed girders 1 which are partly prefabricated to include a lowerchord 2 of steel reinforced concrete, an upper chord 3 of reinforcingsteel, and a plurality of diagonally arranged lattice members welded tothe upper chord 3 and to the reinforcing bars (not visible) in theconcrete lower chord 2 in which the lattice members are partiallyembedded.

Hollow filler blocks 5, 5a of light-weight aggregate are arranged inrows between adjacent juxtaposed girders 1. They are formed withshoulders 6 which are seated on the lower concrete chords of thegirders 1. Where the girders 1 are to be connected by transverseconnecting members, the rows of filler blocks are interrupted betweentwo adjacent blocks 5, 5a.

A form element 7 is interposed between the blocks 5, 5a. It consists ofthin sheet material which is capable of being folded. Prior to use, eachform element is a flat sheet as shown in FIG. 2 which is provided withtwo parallel preformed creases 3, d which provide hinges between thecenter and side portions of the sheet. The sheet is readily folded aboutthe preformed creases into a substantially U-shaped channel 1f? thelength of which corresponds to the spacing of the girders 1, and thewidth of which is approximately equal to the spacing of the blocks 5,5a.

When set in place, as shown in FIG. 1, the form elements 7 rest on thelower concrete chords of the girders 1, but they may be supported in anyother desired manner although the arrangement illustrated is preferredbecause of its simplicity. The channels 10 of the several form elementsare axially aligned, and steel reinforcing bars 11, 12 extend over a rowof channels in which they are secured in a conventional manner.

When concrete is poured on the form arrangement illustrated in FIG. 1,the fluid mass fills the interstices between the several elements of thegirders 1, and between the girders 1 and the filling blocks 5. It alsofills the aligned channels 10 about the reinforcing bars 11, 12. If theamount of concrete is sufiicient, there is formed a floor or ceiling inwhich the entire structure seen in FIG. 1 is embedded.

FIGS. 3 to 11 illustrate arrangements for casting transverse membersconnecting the girders in a ceiling in which the filler blocks 5 of FIG.1 are replaced by form members in which filler elements are castsimultaneously with the transverse connecting members.

The form elements of the invention for use in the modified arrangementare preferably shaped as shown in FIG. 3. A fiat sheet panel 13 offoldable material, such as sheet metal, plastic, or preferably cardboardor coated cardboard, is provided with two parallel creases 14. Therectangular elongated area 15 between the creases forms the bottom wallof a channel 17 when the panel is folded perpendicularly about thecreases as seen in FIG. 4. The remainder of the panel forms two sidewalls 16 each bounded by an arc of a circle and one of the straightcreases 14 which constitutes a chord of the arc.

The ceiling structure in which the form element 13 is employed includesgirders of the same type as shown in FIG. 1, and the form elements 13are supported thereon in the same manner as described above withreference to the form elements 7. The girders are not illustrated inFIGS. 5 and 6 for the sake of simplicity.

The blocks 5 are replaced in the structures shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 byform elements 18 of corrugated sheet metal, each having the generalshape of a segment of a hollow cylinder the axis of which is parallel tothe direction of elongation of the girders, and which is cut off in anaxial plane. The corrugations of the form elements extendcircumferentially from one girder to an adjacently juxtaposed one. Theaxial edges of the cylindrical form elements are supported on the lowerchords 2 of the girders 1. This arrangement which is conventional initself, permits a ceiling to be cast, the underside of which showsparallel cylindrical vaults lined by corrugated sheet metal whichremainspermanently in place.

Where such a ceiling is to be provided with transverse stilfening andreinforcing members, the inverted troughs V spacing of the girders 2 isapproximately equal to the constituted by the corrugated metal segmentsare interrupted, and folded sheet metal channels are inserted into thespaces between adjacent corrugated metal elements as shown in FIGS. 5and 6. The arcuate outer circumference of the side walls 16substantially conforms to the. circumferential curvature of thecorrugated elements. The side walls 16 form axially terminal walls ofthe in verted troughs formed by the cylinderical corrugated elements.The uppermost portion of each sidewall 16 projects but slightly abovethe highest adjacent portion of the corrugated form element 18. i

The side walls 16 are shown in FIG. 5 to be secured to the adjacent formelements 18 by means of clips 19 folded into an approximate S-shape. Onebight of the S-shape which is downwardly open or inverted U-shaped isplaced over the upperedge of a side wall 16. The other bight which isupwardly open as an upturned hook supports a circumferentially elongatedand downward edge or lip of the form element 18. The two clips 19attached to the two side walls 16 of the same foldable forrnelement 13are connected by a bar 2% which is integral with both clips 19 and actsas a spacer. It holds the side walls 16, at a predetermined'distance andcontributes to the rigidity and stability of the form arrange-v ment.

A modified arrangement .of clips 22 and a spacer bar 21 is shown in FIG.6. The spacer bar 21 and the clips 22 form an integral elongated sheetmetal structure the center portion 21 of which is folded in aconventional manner to make it rigid, and constitutes a spacer bar. Thelongitudinal lug-shaped ends 22 of the sheet metal structure passoutward ofthe channel 17 through corresponding openings in the sidewalls 16 and are folded downward to retain a top edge portion of acorrugated cylindrical form element 18. Details of the sheet metalstructure constituting the spacer bar 21 and the clips 22 priortoinsertion in the openings of the side walls 16 are seen in FIG. 7.

Yet another clip arrangement not associated with a' spacer bar isillustrated in the detail view of FIG. 8. The clip 23 is S-shaped andsimilar to the clip 1% shown in FIG. 5. The end portion thereofsupporting the form element 18 is arc-uately shaped to conform to acorrugation of the form element 18, and riveted thereto.

A modification of the form arrangement of the inventionfor castingtransverse members connecting terminal portions of a plurality ofparallel elongated girders is illustrated in FIG. 11 and the foldableform element of the invention employed in this arrangement is shown inFIG. 9 in a plan view. It is similar to one half of the panel shown inFIG. 3, and consists of a rectangular bottom portion to which a sidewall portion 16' is integrally hinged by a crease 14. The side wallportion 16 has in part the shape of the segment of a circle which isjoined by an approximately rectangular portion one side of which isformed by the'chord of the circular arc, but the length of which isshorter thanthat of the chord, and equal to thelength of the bottomportion 15'. angles about the crease 14', the form element of FIG. 9assumes the. L shape seen in FIG. 10.

FIG. 11 shows a load bearing brick wall 24 on which longitudinal endportions of a plurality of girders 25 are supported. Only one girder isshown in 'FIG. 11. The girder is substantially identical with thegirders 1 shown inFIG. l, and consists of alower chord 26 of reinforcedWhen folded at right Cir concrete, an upper metal chord 27, and diagonallattice members 28 which connect the chords. The transverse lengthof thebottom portion 15 of the foldable form element of FIGS; 9 .and 10, andthe height of the concrete lower chord is approximately equal to thedistance of the crease 14 of the form element from the chord of the arcwhich bounds the major portion of the side wall 16. The side wall 16'thus seals the space between the corrugated form member 18 and the brickWall 24,

.and it extends slightly beyond the circumference of the member 18 sothat the latter may be fastened by means of clips in the manner shown inFIGS. 5 to 8.

The form elements of foldable material according to the invention maybetransported to a construction site in stacks occupying but a minimum ofspace. They may be folded into the operative shape by unskilledpersonnel without the use of tools, and are: simply dropped in place.Transverse connecting members may then be cast therein at once.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosurerelates to only preferred embodiments of the invention and that it isintended to cover all changes and modifications of the example of theinvention herein chosen for the purpose of the disclosure'which do notconstitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention setforth in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a form arrangement for casting concrete ribbed ceilings, thecombination of a plurality of spaced parallel horizontal girders, aplurality of form elements each constituted by a unitary piece of sheetmaterial having a center portion, two side portions, said side portionshavinga free marginal edge and another edge, and integral hinge meansconnecting said another edges of said side portions to said centerportion for movement of the side portions relative to the center portionbetween an inoperative position in which said portions are coplanar andan operative position in which said portions define a substantiallyU-shaped cavity open at the top and ends thereof, said integral hingemeans being constituted by creases in said sheet material between saidportions, a group of said plurality'of form elements in operativeposition beingarranged in mutual alignment to define a discontinuouschannel extending transversely of. said girders, said channel having anopen top, two side walls and a bottom wall constituted by the respectiveside portions and center portion of said for-m elements, the centerportion of each form element extending transversely between the restingOD'tWO of said girders, respective groups of said aligned form elementsbeing spaced in the longitudinal direction of said girders to definerectangular spaces between the girders and the respective groups ofaligned form elements, a plurality of .filler members occupying therespective spaces, each of said filler members being formed from sheetmaterial and having an arched form with end edges defining open ends anda pair of lower side edges defining an open. bottom, said lower sideedges resting on two of said girders to bridge the space therebetween,the side portions of each of said form elements being closely adjacentto said end edges-and closing the open ends of two of said fillermembers between which a form element is disposed with said free marginaledges of said side portions conforming to the arched form of the fillermembers and projecting upwardly beyond the same, said open end edges ofsaid filler members extending downwardly and forming downturned lips,and connector means comprisinga bar spanning the open top said upturnedhooks and connecting the filler members to the side portions of the formelement.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Golding 50-285Selfridge 25131.5 Lindau 50293 X Macomber 25131.5

Bevier 50-355 Brostrom 50280 Morgan 25131.5

10 HENRY c. SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner.

WILLEAM J. STEPHENSON, JACOB L. NACKENOFF,

Examiners.

